Garcia to Box for Bronze at Youth Olympic Games

Heaven Garcia (El Monte, Calif.) will box on Thursday for USA Boxing’s lone medal, a bronze, at the Summer Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 after falling short in the semifinals to Martina La Piana of Italy.

The flyweight, who defeated Kazakhstan’s Zhansaya Abdraimova in the opening round, lost a heartbreaking 4-1 split decision to the 2018 European Champion.

Garcia will step into the ring one final time at the Oceania Pavilion in Buenos Aires, Argentina to face Goryana Stoeva during the bronze medal bout, while teammate Otha Jones III (Toledo, Ohio) will box in the fifth place bout against Kosovo’s Erdonis Maliqi earlier that day.

The final member of Team USA, Roma Martinez (Houston, Texas), fell short in her opening round to advance in the tournament. The team has been under the guidance of Junior and Youth National Head Coach Augie Sanchez (Las Vegas, Nev.).